If you've ever wondered what it's like to run a magazine or how crazy my personal life is, be sure to read the behind-the-scenes peek at the daily trials and tribulations of running True West. Culled straight from my Franklin Daytimer, it contains actual journal entries, laid out raw and uncensored. Some of it is enlightening. Much of it is embarrassing, but all of it is painfully true.
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Thursday, December 29, 2016

December 29, 2016
Rebecca Edwards and I have been busy working on a new promotional campaign that will launch next week. Here is a sneak peek at the first one:

We have over 2,000 card carrying True West Maniacs and we want to honor all of you. If you have your card, please take a photo of yourself holding it and send it to us along with your number and a short reason why you love it (and who you are).

As for the rest of you, if you want to get True West magazine for the rest of your life and super discounts on books and other history related items, stay tuned. It's going to be a great deal for all of our readers who haven't yet signed up.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

When you talk to horse people they are very opinionated about who they think is a good, or bad rider. Almost every expert rider I have talked to—and this includes my Kingman cowboy cousins—agree that Ben Johnson was one of the best riders who ever rode across the silver screen.

Of course there are others who get mentioned, but what is kind of shocking is how many of these same people do not have kind things to say about the Duke's horsemanship. Here is an example from someone I am related to, but who does not want his name used:

"I love John Wayne and have most of his movies, but I must say I cringe sometimes when I see him jerk his reins and, more or less, manhandle his mount, which tears up a horse's mouth. I realize he was trying to get his horse to hit a mark or make a complicated shot work, but I'm sorry to say his heavy-handed riding is not something I would attribute to a good horseman."

And here's another professional critique:

"John Wayne may have been passionate about horses but his skills atop a horse are questionable.

He is often seen jerking and pulling on the reins with quick and drastic force. This results in head tossing and a gaping mouth as the horse tries to avoid the sharp and forceful pressure of the bit being jammed into the roof of his mouth."

—R. Deremo, Professional Horse Trainer

A Jerk On The Reins?And one more for the road:Page Williams:Less Hilton who owned horses like Mr. Ed, Fury, Flicka, and Smokey. Oops let's not forget Francis The Talking Mule. Less would never let Wayne ride one of his horses. When I asked him why he said " Just watch his hands. "

"Riding: The art of keeping a horse between you and the ground."—Old Vaquero Saying

Monday, December 26, 2016

December 26, 2016
As a proud grandpa, it's always fun to pass on your passion by not-so-subtlety giving your offspring a nudge in the right direction. It rarely takes hold, of course, but this holiday season, the old man gave it his best shot. It started with a casual visit to grandpa's studio. "Do you want to paint?" I asked him. "Yes," he said without any hesitation. I grabbed a watercolor board that had a pencil sketch of La Gata on it, and placed it on top of my trash can, so the short guy could get a better angle on painting.

The very first Weston Whip Out begins and it looks like he may be left-handed.

Oops. Nope. He has switched hands! I guess he was right-handed all along.

Nope. Back to the left with the Feather Brush. Good coverage, by the way.

And then the Genius Reach to finish it off.

After about fifteen minutes of this bliss (for grandpa) he said, "I'm finished painting," and with that, Weston headed for the door. Dang, I wish I could be so sure when something is done like this. When I asked the three-and-a-half-year-old what the title of the painting is, he said, without pausing, "Shamrock." See last year's visit to catch the significance of that name (hint: I told him last Christmas I always wanted my own pony and if I ever got one, I would have named it "Shamrock.")

Saturday, December 24, 2016

December 24, 2016It's Christmas Eve morning and a big storm continues to roll through our little area of the world. As the sun peeked between the clouds, it lit up the cave that Cave Creek is named for and I just happened to be out traipsing around the back yard and caught this little magic moment.

Christmas Eve morning in the cave (just to the right of the twin saguaros).

Very dramatic skies. I wandered around to the front of the house and spied my neighbor, Tom Augherton, out doing the same exact thing: shooting our neighborhood and surrounding scenery with his smart phone as well. We laughed and compared notes as we shot away. The scattered light made for some dramatic little scenarios, like this:

Three Christmas Eve chairs at the Triple B Spread

And, walking up Old Stage Road, I caught this little gem to the north:

Storm Road

It's days like today that give me pause. I'm very thankful to be living on the beautiful Sonoran Desert and I'm also thankful that, so far, no one has run me down in a truck (see Germany). I'm also thankful for good friends, like Jim Hinkley, up Kingman way, who gave me some ink in my hometown paper:

Full Disclosure: I had sent the Mohave Miner newspaper a press release when Andy Devine and myself were inducted into the Arizona Music And Entertainment Hall of Fame, last month, and I thought for sure they would jump on two Kingman home boys getting such an honor, but they apparently never deemed it newsworthy. Leave it to a tireless promoter of Route 66 and Kingman to do their job for them. Thanks Jim. You are a treasure and someday the folks in Kingman will realize what they have. I just hope you live long enough to see it.

"Life began for me when I ceased to admire and began to remember."
—Willa Cather

Friday, December 23, 2016

December 23, 2016Received the gift of a photograph from my friend Larry Floyd today. This was taken by Don Kelsen (former LA Times photographer) in the Alabama Hills outside Lone Pine, California a couple months ago.

We seem to be pondering this adage: "Those who do not learn the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. While those of us who do know the lessons of the past are doomed to stand by, like this, and watch everyone else do it."—Old Historian Saying

December 23, 2016Thanks to our neighbors Mike and Fran, I got one of the coolest birthday presents, ever. It's called Bathe & Brew and it's a shower head that also makes coffee for you while you are showering!

Hard to believe no one has come up with this before. Full disclosure: it only brews one cup per 12 gallons of water. Slightly wasteful, but I'll take it!"We are monkeys with money and guns."—Tom Waits

Thursday, December 22, 2016

December 22, 2016Got up today and worked on the most famous Western woman you've never heard of.

Daily Whip Out: "The Great Western No. 8"

I wanted to capture the snap in her eyes, but this one is perhaps too Bob Peak-ish, or Gibson-ish. Bob Peak was a top illustrator back in the sixties and seventies when I was just coming up, and, of course, The Gibson Girl was a famous type of beauty at the turn of the Twentieth Century. And, if anything, perhaps she's too pretty, and not tough enough.

Daily Whip Outs: "Gibson Girl With Heft"

As you shall see, below, Sarah Bowman was a big ol' redhead and I want to hint at her probable freckles, so I also did this sketch this morning before coming into work:

Daily Whip Out: "The Red Headed Great Western"

Just a hint of a smile, narrowed-wary eyes, a rougher looking gal, for sure, with a tossled, lioness mane. Closer.

Here, for your entertainment and to make your own comparisons is The Top Secret Writer's eloquent treatment of our gal:

THE GREAT WESTERN She was the most famous woman on the American frontier – Sarah Bowman, truly larger than life in every way and known to all as the “Great Western.” Jeff Ake, who met her at Paddy Graydon’s Sonoita saloon in 1856, was awestruck: “They called her old Great Western. She packed two six-shooters, and they all said she shore could use ‘em, that she had killed a couple of men in her time. She was a hell of a good woman.” Ake’s father, Grundy, spoke of Sarah reverently as simply, “the greatest whore in the West.”

Born in Missouri in 1812, Sarah’s maiden name was long ago lost to history. She grew to be an impressive woman over six feet tall and close to 200 pounds. She was blessed with a well-proportioned if ample figure, and an attractive face framed by dark red hair. Sarah had a great appetite for life and for men. She married at least three times and the name of her last husband, a German immigrant in the Second Dragoons who was fifteen years her junior, stuck with her. A fellow soldier was suitably impressed by Corporal Albert Bowman’s bride. “Today we are reinforced by a renowned female character,” Private Sylvester Matson wrote in his diary on May 9, 1852. “They call her doctor Mary. Her other name is the Great Western.” He described her as a “giantess over seven feet tall,” with a scar across her cheek from a Mexican saber wound. The camp story was that she had killed the Mexican soldier that wounded her. “She appears here modest and womanly not withstanding her great size and attire. She has on a crimson velvet waist, a pretty riding skirt and her head is surmounted by a gold laced cap of the Second Artillery. She is carrying pistols and a rifle. She reminds me of Joan of Arc and the days of chivalry.”

Her fame was derived from her heroics during the Mexican War and her name came from the largest steamboat then plying the Atlantic. She had become a national sensation for her actions at the siege of Ft Brown at the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846. She followed Zachery Taylor’s army to Monterey where she opened a thriving business that catered to the many varied needs of the soldiers.

When the war ended she moved her business north to El Paso where famed Texas Ranger John “Rip”Ford met her. “On our side an American woman known as the Great Western kept a hotel. She was very tall, large and well made,” Ford related of his 1849 encounter. “She had a reputation of being something of the roughest fighter on the Rio Grande. She was approached in a polite, if not humble, manner by all of us.”

From El Paso Sarah followed the army, and her new husband, Corporal Albert Bowman, to Fort Yuma at the Colorado River crossing. She soon had an establishment across the river from the fort that fed the varied appetites of the officers and enlisted men of Fort Yuma. In time a little village grew up around her combination dance hall, restaurant, and brothel called at first Colorado City, and finally Yuma, Arizona. Lieutenant Sylvester Mowry was one of her most ardent admirers. “I have just got a little Sonoran girl for a mistress,” he wrote a Rhode Island friend in 1855. “She is seventeen very pretty [and] for the present she is living with ‘The Great Western’ you remember don’t you, is the woman who distinguished herself so much at the Fort Brown bombardment just before the battles at Palo Alto and Resaca. She has been with the Army twenty years and was brought up here where she keeps the officers’ mess. Among her other good qualities she is an admirable pimp. She used to be a splendid looking woman and has done ‘good service’ but is too old for that now.”

It was Sarah Bowman who was entrusted with the care of Olive Oatman, soon after that “redeemed captive” was rescued. She soon departed Yuma to relocate to the Sonoita Valley and by the summer of 1858 she and her girls were well established with Paddy Graydon at Casa Blanca. The outbreak of the Civil War led to the abandonment of the Union forts in Arizona and so Sarah again relocated to Yuma. She was soon doing land-office business as California Volunteers flocked to the area in preparation for the invasion of New Mexico. Raphael Pumpelly, later to be a famous explorer and Harvard professor, was mesmerized. “Our landlady, known as the ‘Great Western,’ no longer young, was a character of a varied past,” he wrote in his memoir. “Her relations with the soldiers were of two kinds. One of these does not admit of analysis; the other was angelic, for she was adored by the soldiers for bravery in the field and for her unceasing kindness in nursing the sick and wounded.” The eastern dude watched this magnificent woman’s every movement “as with quiet native dignity, she served our simple meal. She was a lesson in the complexity of human nature.”

She died in December 1866 from a spider bite and was buried with full military honors at Fort Yuma. The Great Western had indeed lived up to her name.—Paul Andrew Hutton

"You want to focus on something that matters, something that's meaningful, something that hopefully can enrich people's lives. And paradoxically, the more intimate you make something, the more universal it becomes. Art in its finest form elicits empathy, it gets us to see the world through someone else's eyes. . ."

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

December 21, 2016
Last night was allegedly the darkest night in the last 500 years and today is the shortest day of the year. And, I just finished another Daily Whip Out Sketchbook and here are a few of the takeaways:

Daily Whip Out: "Man In Black"

Daily Whip Out: "Horse Sense"

Daily Whip Out: "Great Western Sketch No. 1"

Daily Whip Out: "Great Western Sketch No. 3"

Daily Whip Out: "Great Western Sketch No. 4"

Daily Whip Out: "Great Western Sketch No. 5"

Daily Whip Out: "Great Western Sketch No. 6"

DailyWhip Out: "Great Western Epiphany"

"I always have these ideas, and I think, 'that would be really good; if I was a better writer, I could pull it off.' And then I try to become a better writer to do it justice."

December 21, 2016
A couple months ago I got a visit from a delightful producer who works at C-Span and she told me they were in the Valley of the Sun looking for local authors. Thanks to Shelly Dudley at Guidon Books she contacted me and came out to my studio and interviewed me about my book, "The 66 Kid." They asked if I had any coverage of early Route 66 imagery and I told them my partner, Ken Amorosano, and I, had put together a video, utilizing my family home movies for the Powerhouse Museum in Kingman to run with my artwork and history display. They utilized that footage and made a pretty cool little video. Here it is:

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

December 20, 2016Went home for lunch and had fun with another take on The Great Western.

Daily Whip Out: "Midnight at Yuma Crossing."

We're going to do a big feature on Sarah Bowman in an upcoming issue of True West. Some guys don't mess around. This Christmas season I've been sending original artwork to all the people who have helped me in 2016. For example, Larry Winget came out last Tuesday and gave the staff a seminar on how to write good headlines. Larry is a master provocateur which includes the ways certain word grab people's attention and if you don't believe me, Google his book titles Anyway, as a token of my appreciation I gifted him a Daily Whip Out of Doc Holliday and 24 hours later he sent me this photo of the piece framed and hanging in his office:

Monday, December 19, 2016

December 19, 2016
So Kathy got me all the seasons of "Deadwood" and "Gunsmoke" for my birthday. And, yesterday, even though it was early, we watched a couple of the very first Gunsmokes, dating back to 1956. I read somewhere that Sam Peckinpah cut his teeth on writing several episodes before he turned to directing. Could this be him?

Say, what? Does the middle initial stand for "Sam"?

Anyway, it was an act of love to buy me the shows and it was the ultimate act of love to actually watch some of these shows with me. Of course, there are other definitions of love.

"My definition of love is being willing to die for someone that you yourself want to kill."

Sunday, December 18, 2016

December 18, 2016
Tomorrow I hit a milestone, a date I have sometimes thought I would never live to see.

Saw "La La Land" yesterday and it was wonderful (although Kathy didn't really care for it). Written by a 31-year-old kid! I took the theme to be, What is the price for "making it"? This hit me right where I live.

My grandson Weston likes to visit "Cactusland," where Grandpa Ha ha lives. The last time he was here, he and I walked over to Ratcliff Ridge and he marveled at all the big cactus and grandpa taught him how to pee on one. Yesterday, I sent a photo of Ratcliff Ridge to him and asked him what the name of the ridge was.

No, Grandpa, it's not Ratcliff Ridge, it's "Walk With A Ridge."

Okay, Walk-With-A-Ridge it is.

Had a disturbing dream the other night. I was on a bicycle and I decided to ride through a pretty neighborhood in Silver Lake, where my daughter lived for a time before moving to Pasadena and then Seattle. I was pedaling along admiring the old houses when a gang banger on a bike came out of nowhere and grabbed my shirt and tried to pull me off my bike. I managed to stay on the bike and tried to get away, peddling as hard as I could with him jerking on my shirt and trying to bring me down. Up ahead, another gang banger, on foot, stepped into the roadway and I tried to steer around him, but I couldn't get clear and he grabbed my handlebars, and stopped me, dead in my tracks.

We live in a predatory world, where the strong prey on the weak—and the naive. I was in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time. Those brutes—whether it be the mongrels, or the Mongrels—have always been here, and always will be.

I've been on this planet for 69 years and 364 days. I know some things, both about the world and myself. Of course, what I know you could fit in a thimble and I often beat myself up for being so damn dumb and naive. In many ways, I can't believe I made it this far. There are forces out there that could crush me like a bug.

One thing is clear: I need a faster bike.

"Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got."
—Steven Pressfield, "The War of Art"

Friday, December 16, 2016

December 16, 2016 In the just-wrapped first season of the HBO series "Westworld" one of the main characters is simply called "The Man In Black."

The Man In Black is played wonderfully by Ed Harris

Of course, to someone my age, "The Man In Black" conjures up a slightly different visage:

Johnny Cash Is The Man In Black

But even Cash is a latecomer to the image. Check out this cat:

The Duke As The Man In Black

Zorro could easily be called the Hombre In Black. There were quite a few early cowboy stars who preferred all black, like Lash LaRue, Hopalong Cassidy, and even Denzel Washington in the new "Magnificent 7." Denzel sported an all-black outfit with a black horse and saddle to boot. My question is, where did this idea originate? Is The Man In Black a Twentieth Century concept, or are there earlier incarnations?

"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well."

December 16, 2016
I have asked our True West Maniacs to send me a picture of themselves flashing their card. Chris Casey, of Stillwater, Oklahoma fame, sent me his this morning.

Chris Casey's True West Maniac Card

My Maniac card (issued sometime in the early 2000's) has certainly seen better days; but, it has outlived 3 wallets and it has been carried to Spaghetti Western locations in Spain, many a Golden Boot event, to Lone Pine, to Vasquez Rocks and Agua Dulce, to Old Tucson, Mescal, Tombstone, Sonora (California and Mexico!), Columbia (CA), all over Oklahoma and Texas, New Mexico, and well...just about everywhere. My card is a survivor. Ha! But, I like it and I am proud to carry it!

Thursday, December 15, 2016

December 15, 2016
By now, if you've been following along, you've seen a couple dozen sketches of one determined woman.

Daily Whip Out: "Sarah Brava On The Banks of The Colorado"

Although she comes down to us via the random and ridiculous contortions of history as Sarah Bowman, I am going to be calling her Sarah Brava for two reasons: one is her last name is a mess of alleged names, married names and vague guessing game names (see the contorted examples in the Elliott quote, below). And, two, I wanted her to have a solid name for my purposes and Brava is, of course, Spanglish for a brave and determined woman. Comprende?

Plus, it's proprietary.

Daily Whip Out: "Yuma-Ma!"

Sarah is the first resident of Yuma and that is a historic fact. She is therefore the Mother of the town, which, I believe, makes her Yuma-Ma! And yes, I did a cartoon back in the eighties using that exact name, which I came up with for an advertising slogan for the town that winter forgot (another facetious slogan I came up with which they never used.)

I see her visage as somewhere between Rosie The Riveter and Xena-Princess Warrior.

Rosie The Riveter, by Norman Rockwell

A large, muscular woman, but still attractive. Not easy to do, and my hat is way off to Norman. Damn, that guy was good.

I was interviewed by Jackson Polk and Melissa Sargent on El Paso KTSM radio last Saturday and spent most of the interview talking about The Great Western since Sarah spent some quality time in old Hell Paso. Here is the interview if you want to hear it (click on hour one):

One thing is clear: I am finally closing in on this brave and determined pioneer character and you can expect big things from this big woman.

"She was married to her second husband, whose name is variously spelled Bourdette, Bourget, Bourginnnis and Bourkyte. The man was probably Charles Bourgette of the Fifth INfantry, but he remains a shadowy figure, and his relationship with Sarah was less than permanent. Sarah was always looking for new romantic mountains to climb."

—J.F. Elliott, "The Great Western: Sarah Bowman, Mother and Mistress to the U.S. Army" in the Journal of Arizona History

December 16, 2016
My friend John Langellier often gets movie gigs because of his expertise on U.S. cavalry gear and history. John was the history consultant on "Geronimo" among many other Westerns. Last week he was on a movie set in New Mexico and the authentic cavalry gear guy on the movie is a well known industry pro who is a big fan of True West magazine. How big?

David Carrico proudly displays his True West Maniac card.

Back when we first bought the magazine in 1999 I realized that the general public was quite fickle about history but that there was a certain breed of cat who is, well, crazy about the Old West and will walk a mile just to see an authentic photo, weapon or Western movie. I actually arrived at this concept when I was testing the waters to see if I should do my first book on Billy the Kid back in 1991. I contacted 21 different publishers and they all turned me down. One of them said, "Just what the world needs, another book on Billy the Kid." However, one of the publishers, Jim Earle, liked the idea but balked at doing color (see his quote, below).

Thanks to Carole Glenn and R.G. Robertson, among others, we launched the True West Maniac Club and offered lifetime subscriptions for the first 1,000 who signed up. David, above, was one of them, and to this day he carries his card in his wallet to flash when he needs to show off his street cred.

Currently there are several thousand Maniacs out there (I will get the actual number) and I want to acknowledge and honor you all. Please send me a photograph of yourself holding your card. And please include your number.

"There are 5,000 maniacs out there who will buy anything that has to do with the history of the West."

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

December 14, 2016
Got up this morning in a Mexican vaquero kind of mood. Love those old style sugarloafs.

Daily Whip Out: "The Moment Ishmael Realized

He Was Playing Monte With The Muerte Gang"

I've got to give a shout-out to Chris Casey who turned me on to several 1940s Mexican Westerns and these two scenes (above and below) are from one of those films.

Daily Whip Out: "El Jefe Lays Down The Law"

Yesterday, a friend of mine was looking through a stack of my paintings and he said, "you sure like weather, don't you?"

Daily Whip Out: "Dust Storm Blows Thru Blackhawk, Nevada"

When I acknowledged this is true, he added, "I remember when we first met and I asked you your favorite Western, you said you liked 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller' because of the weather." I nodded in the affirmative, and then he added, "That is about the gayest reason for liking a Western I have ever heard."

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

December 13, 2016 We know the James-Younger boys were allegedly wearing dusters at the attempted Northfield bank robbery (1876) but, to my knowledge there has never been any photos of them in dusters (after the capture of the Youngers and Charlie Pitt's body, etc.). We have always assumed dusters were around because of this incident. Here is the closest Old West photo I can find that appears to show someone wearing a duster:

An alleged stage robbery in progress with the bandit wearing a duster.

I believe this photo was taken in the early 1900s and the highway robber is standing in the back with what appears to be a duster on, although it could also just as easily be described as an artist's smock. The story goes that one of the passengers had a Brownie and asked if he could take a photo. It seems a tad too precious to me—and also a tad late—but at any rate, this is the closet image I can find of an Old West character wearing a full blown duster.

"Killin" Jim Miller in a long coat

Not really a duster, but it's long enough. I don't recall seeing dusters in photographs until the early auto era. Can anyone provide an image from the 1800s of anyone wearing a duster? Well, hold your horses, here's an image posted by Jerrie Jennings Paschal on Facebook:

Two cowboys wearing hats and boots; one wears a duster, the other a slickerPhotographer unknown, ca. 18852004.013Purchase by Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center

The man on the left wears a white or tan duster made of heavy linen or lightweight canvas with a small, split, flop-over collar. The duster's sides laid over both sides of the horse's rib cage. Introduced before the 1880s, the slicker (also known as saddle coat and pommel yellow slicker), worn by the man on the right, was made of heavy cloth, canvas or duck, and waterproofed with linseed oil. When worn, the slicker covered the entire saddle as well as the rider and ensured a dry seat.

And, of course, when it rains, it pours. Here's a certain Texas boy wearing a duster:

Sam Houston, circa 1857 wearing a duster. Courtesy of Gary Zaboly

And, leave it to Gay Mathis to find an even cooler image of a Texas Ranger:

James Francis Blair, circa 1848, a private in Samuel Walker's company

of Texas Rangers during the early months of the Mexican War, wearing

a broad brimmed palmetto hat and a light-colored linen duster,

popular amongst the Rangers.

Of course, it's in the so-called Spaghetti Westerns in the late 1960s that we get the proliferation of dusters in a Western movie:

"The dusters were a mania of [Sergio's] and they became a mania of the time as well. We went to look at costumes at Western Costume in California, and we happened to find these beautiful dusters, which were dustcoats for riding. They had also been shown in the film by John Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in the flashback. They were white, so we changed them to chocolate brown. Before we changed them, they looked like they were worn by ice cream vendors."
—Carlo Simi, production designer for "Once Upon A Time In The West"

Monday, December 12, 2016

December 12, 2016It's been said that no one who can read has ever successfully cleaned out an attic, and the same is true of an artist looking in the garage for something specific. Found three Kid pics, instead, and just had to tweak two of them.

Daily Whip Out: "Billy The Redeemer."

Some people forget that Val Kilmer has not only played Doc Holliday, but he also played the boy outlaw as well:

Daily Whip Out: "Billy Kilmer"

And if you're getting nitpicky, Val also played Wyatt Earp in another flick.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

December 11, 2016
Okay, I just watched the last episode of HBO's first season of "Westworld," and I have one thing I need to get off my chest: I hated the hats.

That said, it was kind of the point to the whole damn show. The conceit of the show strip mines the John Ford engineered version of the "settling of the West." it's no accident that one of the chief engineers of the futuristic theme park is named Ford.

According to HBO's in-house numbers, over 11 million people have been watching the series on all platforms (cable, iPads and mobile devices, etc.).

We can agree that the Western story, as created by Owen Wister, Zane Grey and John Ford (especially John Ford!) is a concocted story. It's mostly myth-making legitimized by Frederick Jackson Turner as our country's creation story. I'll have much more to say about the plot and the points made, and not so subtly made, but the bottom line is, this show got people's attention, and since it is a Western, or a half-assed-Western, or, a half-a-wannabe-Western, I believe True West has to step up and weigh in on it. Expect to see more in-depth analysis from our astute contributing editors.

Anyway, back to the hats. They are awful, at least to a historical accuracy fanatic like myself. That the younger version of William wears a big, ol' Who-Shot-JR?-1970s-styled-bull-rider hat just looks silly, to me, but, as my friend Paul Andrew Hutton so aptly puts it, "That is exactly the point. It doesn't matter. Everything is a dream, within a dream."

Here's C. Neil William's take on it: "It's a theme park catering to people's perceptions of the west, and therefore much more about the Western than any real, historical west...and the Western is a screwed-up, hodgepodge of ideas and imagination. So in its way, 'Westworld' is dead on accurate, JR hats included."

Come to find out, according to Sigmund Freud, in his theory of dream analysis, a "hat" stands in for a, well, I'm slightly embarrassed to say this, but it stands in for a "penis." Perhaps this explains why I have always opted for big-brimmed shadetree hat styles.

"Hey, Boze, nice penis compensation on your head, there." In my defense, I have never ducked the accusation of being "all hat, no cattle." Does any of this bother me?

In your dreams.

Bottom line: we want to know what you think of the show. So, weigh in and let 'er rip.

"The story that lasts is the best myth. Whoever comes up with the best fairy tail wins. It has nothing to do with what actually happened."
—Natalie Portman

Friday, December 09, 2016

December 9, 2016 As you know we are always looking around for good history and sometimes we find it right in our own back yard.

Dan The Man Harshberger's proposed cover layout

Our good friend Marshall Trimble has written a feature for us on the true life of The King of The Gunfighter ballad. Here's just a small taste of the wonderful piece:Big Iron On His HipBy Marshall TrimbleIn 1947, Ole Dame Fortune lent a helping hand. He’d been aregular at Vern and Don’s, a local bar on east Van Buren Street inPhoenix where he made the acquaintance of Frankie Starr, thefeatured artist in the band. One evening Frankie came over and saidtheir guitar player was missing and could he fill in. He later recalled, “Icouldn’t play very well but I could play better than Frankie.”The gig lasted three hours and afterwards Frankie handed him aten-dollar bill. For a guy making a dollar an hour hauling brick Martinthought he’d been overpaid but Frankie told him that was union scale.He played with the band the next two nights and pocketed thirtydollars. When the guitar player he replaced left town Martin becamelead guitar player in the band. At last he was making money for doingsomething he loved.His next break came one night when Frankie was sick and askedMartin to fill in. He later recalled that he was so shy and self-conscience he couldn’t even look at the audience. He got behind themicrophone, stared at the floor and performed his first song on stage,Eddy Arnold’s, Many Tears Ago.The audience liked him but Martin would later say modestly, “Ithink they just felt sorry for me.”Working with Frankie Starr, Martin learned a lot about interactingand engaging with his audience. It would take a while but engaginghis audience was something that would make him one of countrymusic’s most beloved performers.Frankie Starr was also responsible for Martin landing his firstgig on the radio. Calling themselves the K Bar Boys, they begansinging on KTYL Radio in Mesa. The station had a large window infront and folks would pull up outside the studio and watch the show.Martin was still taking a lot of needling from his blue-collar-worker brothers about making a living playing music, advising him toget a “real job.” One day a friend, Harry Talmachoff, suggested heshorten his name to Marty Robbins.He agreed, besides he thought, “Marty Robbins” would lookmuch better on a record label. Although he never changed his namelegally he would be forever known as Marty Robbins. That's the history of how he got his stage name. You'll get the rest of the story in an upcoming issue of True West magazine."To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine dayHardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say,No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slipThe stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip,Big iron on his hip."

—Marty Robbins, "Big Iron On His Hip" from the classic album "Gunfighter Ballads,"

About Me

Bob Boze Bell's work has appeared in Arizona Highways, Playboy, National Lampoon, the Arizona Republic and True West magazine.
For ten years (2002-20012) he did a video version of True West Moments which ran on the Westerns Channel.
BBB can currently be seen on the series "Gunslingers" which runs on the American Heroes Channel.
Triple B is also the President and executive editor of True West magazine, positions he has held since 1999.
He has written a dozen books on Old West characters like Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Wild Bill Hickok and a three-part series (so far) on Classic Gunfights which appear in True West. These popular, heavily illustrated books have sold over 90,000 copies, so far.
In 2014 he published a visual memoir of growing up on Route 66 called "The 66 Kid," and he is currently working on a bio of Geronimo.
As for retirement, BBB says, "Work is only work if you'd rather be someplace else. And I'm exactly where I want to be."